If you work in the technology industry, you’re familiar with the concept of a pivot. Pivoting reflects the need to change or adjust your products or services to better meet market demands, and it is quite common for tech startups to change course as business needs evolve. Yet one tech company in New Jersey pivoted in a different way: its startup success led them to evolve their offerings to mentor other startups, creating an incubator for entrepreneurs and young businesses to learn and build. I spoke with Ritika Singh, the CEO of InnCreTechin Princeton, N.J., about how her firm focuses on growing small businesses in innovation and technology.

Ebong Eka:What does InnCreTech mean/stand for?

Ritika Singh:InnCreTech is an acronym for Innovation, Creativity and Technology.

Eka:Tell us about InnCreTech and what your company does?

Singh: We are a software engineering firm and wework with many startups in the field of Artificial Intelligence, 3D printing, Healthcare and the emerging Blockchain space. We give startups access to our core tech team and product management team in-house and help with decision making. For example, we mentor startups on how to scope the initial product requirement and deciding between “must have” and “good to have” features in the product.

Eka:What opportunity or opportunities did you see in the marketplace that led to starting InnCreTech?

Singh: InnCreTech was launched like a traditional tech startup. It transformed into a tech incubator after being approached by several startups for tech advice and development. We also help small businesses that cannot afford an engineering arm or in-house tech services.

Technology is always an expensive investment and a wrong tech partnership or development can be very costly in terms of time and money for any company. Large companies also utilize our services in data science and blockchain field when they want to do a research or a prototype in a fixed span of time.

Eka:Who are your ideal clients?

Singh: Our ideal clients are early-stage startups and enterprises seeking access to advanced technology and the utilization of innovative processes to better their business models. We want clients who are working on bleeding-edge technologies, looking to innovate and move at a fast pace in today’s competitive landscape.

Eka:How does InnCreTech help these small businesses achieve better results?

Singh: We help our customers elevate their business by harnessing the power of advanced technology. We are constantly innovating and re-engineering our approach to find optimal tech solutions for them. We make sure the technology component for our small business clients is not risky. We are also experts in advanced and emerging tech fields, so we can help more traditional business models embrace innovative technologies.

Eka: For tech startups, what do you believe are the two most important steps for building a successful startup?

Apart from “be agile in approach,”, my two pieces of advice would be:

1. Market research.This is a very important step for any startup, so please do your homework. There should always be a need for your product in the market.

2. Listen and be ready to pivot.Listening is the key. Customers should guide what you want to build - and if that means making some changes to your product or service, a pivot, then go for it.

Eka: What are the qualities of the ideal startup for InnCreTech to invest in?

Singh: The startups that work with us have one thing in common: they are trying to solve a problem. We equip all our startups with cutting-edge technologies so they are not left behind. Our goal is to help promising entrepreneurs achieve their vision based on sound engineering and best practices.

Ebong Eka is no stranger to the world of personal finance. As a certified public accountant and former professional basketball player he offers a fresh perspective to small business planning and executing. With over fifteen years of accounting, tax & small business experience with firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche and CohnReznick, Ebong provides practical money solutions tailored to the everyday person, the aspiring entrepreneur or the small business owner.

Bank of America, N.A. engages with Ebong Eka to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Ebong Eka is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Ebong Eka. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.

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